KANGAROOS talked the talk during the week and backed it up with the walk yesterday to become the first side into the Cairns District Rugby League grand final.

Captain-coach Steve Sheppard talked about application during the week after his side – undefeated for 17 rounds of the competition – staggered into the playoffs like punch-drunk boxers, with three losses in the final four rounds.

But Roos walked the walk yesterday, becoming once again the side that so dominated the competition for most of the year.

They beat major semi-final rivals Tully 48-22 at Barlow Park yesterday, underlining their credentials as premiership favourites with a display equal parts defence, commitment and flair.

"We talked about application, I think all 17 applied themselves today which got us the result," Sheppard said after the match.

"Our forward pack was outstanding.

"We had a game plan and we stuck to it.

"We backed our skill and sometimes it didn’t work but most of the time it did.

"These boys have worked so hard for two weeks, we've just got to work hard for another two weeks now."

Any weaknesses that might have been on display in the closing weeks of the fixture season were not on display last night as Roos shut down Tully’s massive pack and held firm through the middle where the marauding
Tigers have hurt so many teams this season.

"We talked about at halftime we had to fix up our middle third and I thought our forwards did," Sheppard said.

"The only tries they scored in the second half were out wide and we worked pretty hard to make them score out there.

"It was a great game defensively and our pack was outstanding."

Tigers coach Leon Hallie was disappointed his team did not get its share of the "50-50 calls" but rued most its uptight nature when the going got tough.

"We just need to relax a bit more when things aren’t going our way," Hallie said.

"We probably get a bit uptight there.

"As a group we are all right, all good with each other but when things aren’t going our way we got a bit uptight, just rushed things a bit."

That was particularly evident in the second half as the Tigers squandered early opportunities to get back into the match and seemed to get flustered.

"We had a chance to get back in the game in the second half and they defended well on their line," he said of Roos’ ability to weather three sets in their red zone before finally cracking and allowing Tigers winger Fabien Tauli to score.

"I think we just used up too much ammo getting to that point," Hallie said.

"We just come back next week, I
suppose."

That job will not be easy, with Hallie admitting any of the top four teams had each other’s number on any given night – as evidenced by Innisfail’s win against defending premiers Brothers yesterday.

"The top four teams, it’s pretty much who fronts up on the day," Hallie said.

"We did last week and we missed out this week.

"It's just a matter of trying to get ourselves right again (for Sunday)."

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